World News

Rounder Records to Release New Orleans Music Compilation to Benefit Hurricane Relief
Published October
4, 2005

On October 18, Rounder Records will release A Celebration Of New Orleans Music to Benefit MusiCares® Hurricane Relief 2005. All proceeds will go to the MusiCares® Hurricane Relief Fund, providing assistance to musicians and other music industry people directly affected by Hurricane Katrina.

"Hurricane Katrina struck a direct hit to the soul of American music. It is the wish of everyone at Rounder Records that the proceeds from this sampler will help to restore the lives and livelihoods of the Gulf Coast musicians who are among our greatest cultural treasures," states Rounder Vice President of A&R Scott Billington.

Neil Portnow, President of The Recording Academy® and MusiCares, states, "It is inspiring and gratifying to witness the generosity of spirit, support and resources that the music community has poured out in response to this tragedy. We are immensely proud to be the music industry's 'charity of choice' during this profound time and will continue to work very hard to keep that support."

Featuring liner notes by Branford Marsalis, the album is a joyfully unruly collection celebrating America's greatest musical city, moving from second-line brass band music and R&B to modern jazz, Mardi Gras Indian music and gospel, spanning 65 years of recording. There's a common thread that connects all of these sounds - the ebullient, funky musical attitude that lets you know this music is from no other place on the planet than New Orleans. Here is the soul and spirit of a city that will never die.